​The New England Patriots Have Unresolved Issues

For the second week in a row, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots faced a physical NFC West team with a mobile quarterback. Even though the San Francisco 49ers defense is to the Seattle Seahawks defense what…well, what Colin Kaepernick is to Russell Wilson, the Patriots still struggled.

Sure, the Pats ultimately improved to 8-2, maintaining their two-game lead on the AFC East. But the previous week's home loss to the Seahawks ended Brady's post-suspension undefeated streak, and the 49ers game reminds us just how soft that slate was.

The Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Buffalo Bills are a combined 13-25-1, and the Patriots faced the Steelers with Landry Jones at quarterback.

In Week 11, against a defense allowing a league-worst 31.4 points per game, Brady and the offense managed just 13 points in the first three quarters. Without tight end Rob Gronkowski to throw to, tailback James White led the Pats in receiving yardage for much of the game. As it turns out, three-yard passes to Julian Edelman might be susceptible to the Law of Diminishing Returns after all.

On the other side of the ball…well. Without Jamie Collins and Chandler Jones, the two excellent linebackers the Patriots have traded away this year, the Pats have struggled to get heat on the passer. When the Patriots didn't send the house after Kaepernick, he had plenty of time to do damage:

Despite Kaep's better-than-usual effectiveness and tailback Carlos Hyde averaging nearly five yards per carry, the Patriots defense managed to bend without breaking too often. But this is a 49ers team that's been padding its offensive totals in garbage time all season long, yet still only averaging 20.8 points per game—the Patriots allowing 16 today isn't much of an achievement.

Yes, as they always seem to do, the Patriots managed to do what they needed: to come away with a win. But for a team that's supposed to be the class of the AFC, they're unimpressively fighting to hang on to their No. 1 seed and inside track to the Super Bowl.

The Patriots' final six games are a national tour of outdoor teams with great scoring defenses: The Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams (in New England), New York Jets (twice), and Miami Dolphins. The 30-16 final scoreline looks just fine, and the Pats will eventually get Gronkowski back. But in the week we spent chattering about a Pats/Seahawks rematch in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks stomped a playoff-caliber team and the Pats needed four quarters to open up more than a field goal lead on a doormat.

The Patriots have work to do before we ink over their penciled-in AFC championship.